National Tourism Day 2022: Theme, significance and events scheduled

A national-level programme to mark 'National Tourism Day' will be held at Telangana's Pochampally, a village on the outskirts of Hyderabad known for its famous hand-woven Ikat saris.

National Tourism Day is celebrated across the country on January 25 every year to appreciate India’s beauty and spread awareness about the importance of tourism and its impact on the economy. The ministry of tourism is observing National Tourism Day under the aegis of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, a 75-week grand celebration to mark 75 years of India’s independence. This year’s theme for National Tourism Day is ‘Rural and Community Centric Tourism’.

National Tourism Day: The tourism industry has been hit due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. (PTI File Photo/ Representational image)

As part of National Tourism Day, seminars, cultural events and other programmes will be organised by the Centre in association with the Telangana government. While several states have organised events to promote tourism in their region, the central government is organising the main event in Telangana’s Pochampally village, a weavers' hamlet on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Known for its famous hand-woven Ikat saris, Pochampally was selected as one of the best tourism villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) in November 2021. Programmes including cultural events, light and sound shows will also be organised at 75 major tourism centres and all tourist destinations across the country.

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On Monday, the tourism ministry unveiled the Indian Tourism Pictorial Quiz. The objective of the quiz is to showcase India’s varied tourism products, architecture, culture, and cuisine, and test the knowledge regarding the tourism opportunities available within the country.

Union minister G Kishan Reddy said last month that the Centre has decided to organise an All India Conference on Temple Architecture during the last week of February either at Ramappa temple premises in Telangana, which was recently inscribed as a Unesco World Heritage Site, or in Warangal.

The tourism industry has been heavily hit by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic. The World Tourism Organization has said that tourist arrivals around the world are not expected to return to their pre-pandemic levels until 2024.